


Mission Log: REDACTED

by enchantedsleeper



Category: The Strange Case of Starship Iris (Podcast)
Genre: (And I use the word "science" very loosely), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arkady's hacking skills are admittedly very plot-convenient, Badass Violet Liu, Contains one slightly tense interrogation/torture scene, Extremely hand-wavey science, Gen, Mission Fic, Nanoswarm ex machina, Please do not pay any attention at all to the science, Told through audio, Unconventional Format, and a bit of described violence but nothing beyond the level contained in canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:28:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28142412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enchantedsleeper/pseuds/enchantedsleeper
Summary: Canon divergence AU from mid-episode 9. Instead of executing Plan B, the Rumor crew learns about a top-secret Regime project that is being carried out at ADVANCE Labs - and that the fate of the crew of the Iris is not what they thought it had been.Violet Liu goes in undercover, posing as a member of the lab team. But can she undo what the Regime has done to the crew and free them - without losing herself in the process?
Relationships: Brian Jeeter & Alvy Connors, Violet Liu & Arkady Patel, Violet Liu/Arkady Patel
Comments: 10
Kudos: 26
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	Mission Log: REDACTED

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mousek](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mousek/gifts).



> Happy Yuletide, Mousek! I really hope you like this fic <3 I was super inspired by the prompts in your letter, particularly the part where you wondered what remnants of Violet's past IGR life still remain, and that sparked off an idea to write a fic where she goes undercover at ADVANCE - using her skills as a biologist in the process. I started to flesh it out from there, and it... mushroomed. xD I also _love_ writing with constraints or in unusual formats, so I was delighted that you mentioned that and I really threw myself into the "audio narrative" side of things. Hopefully it's done in a way that's not too difficult to follow! 
> 
> I had so much fun writing this and I hope you get even half as much enjoyment out of reading it ^^
> 
>  **A general note to readers:** Please do not pay any attention to the scientific detail in this fic - it's designed to be nonsense xD I mean, it's sort of purposeful nonsense but only in the sense that I skimmed a vaguely relevant article and appropriated some choice phrases, and then tried to make it sound vaguely plausible on the surface. If there are any actual scientists reading this, I apologise. I have no lab experience whatsoever and I haven't done science since I was in secondary school xD
> 
> Ditto to any coders or computer specialists reading this fic, because the way I write hacking/coding in this fic is highly plot-convenient and probably nonsensical. Basically, don't look to this fic for accuracy of any kind 😂
> 
>  **Slightly spoilery warning (skip over this to remain unspoiled but please read if you’re concerned about potential triggers):** this fic features people’s memories being modified (though not completely irreversibly) without their consent.

_“This is Agent McCabe. Two weeks have now passed since our last update. Based on the continued lack of audio input via this swarm of Strain H, we can assume that the crew of the Rumor have acted on the intel given to them by the insurgents, Thasia and Violet Liu, and successfully cured themselves of the VCN nanocloud infection._

_“As a result, pending further developments in this case, the Strange Case of Starship Iris is now considered closed. Footage from the case remains available in the archives and can be accessed on request by submitting form B7-081 with a superior’s signature._

_“My thanks to Major General Frederick, Agents Bauman and Cross, and the specialists at Procyon, as well as Junior Agent Goodman for their assistance in this case. Long live the Republic.”_

SYSTEM: E.L.L.A.

USERNAME: EMILY CRADDOCK

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED 26 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hey, it’s me. I just wanted to check in and say that I’m fine, I’m safe and I passed the background checks without any problems. I kept thinking the whole time that someone from the intake process would recognise me, but – none of them seemed familiar, and I guess I wasn’t either. Just a very small cog in the vast machine of the Reg- the Republic. God, I’ve got to get used to saying that again.

“I’m all settled in in my apartment – it’s twice the size of my room on the Rumor, but I can’t help thinking how much I miss that space.” _Quiet laughter_. “And you all. I… guess I’ll talk to you soon. I’ll have more to update you with tomorrow, after I start work at the lab. And I’ll be able to let you know whether our intel was good.

“Until then… Violet Liu out.”

“This is uh, lab report 05, week two? Analyst Brannon reporting on behalf of Gamma Team at ADVANCE.

“Over the past few days, our lab has continued work on synthesizing the NDMA proteins, and Specialists Chang and Yeboah report that they have made some positive advancements in this area. We have provisionally moved up the timeline for the first round of testing with this in mind, though Specialist Yeboah cautions that we need to monitor how the new proteins react with other molecules in the solution first, and then with the blood cell samples.

“A new member also joined our team today – specialist Huang. I wasn’t aware that we’d actually been hiring for our vacancy, but uh, she seems very qualified? A little over-qualified, even. In addition to her qualification from Brightwell she has extensive experience with this type of lab work, which makes us lucky to have her as part of the team. She’s joined Analyst Vázquez and Assistant Hudson in their work on the histone deacetylases.

“My specialism is in a completely different area, and I’m pretty sure our work histories have never overlapped, but – she seems familiar somehow. Except she said she was based on Mars up until six months ago, and I’ve been working on New Jupiter since… uh…

“Sorry – lost my train of thought for a minute there. I’ve been getting these persistent headaches… I think it’s all that poring over modelling data. Though I never get them while I’m working, so maybe they’re delayed-onset headaches? Heh. It could be the lab lighting; I might ask Supervisor Kaaka if we can swap out the bulbs for a lower wattage.

“Uh, anyway. This is Analyst Brannon signing off. Long live the Republic.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 27 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hey, it’s me. Oh my god… oh my god, I can barely process what’s been happening. I was going to send this message as soon as I got back to my apartment, and instead I’ve just been sitting and staring into space because it’s just so… surreal…

“They’re alive. They’re all just… _alive_ and working in a lab at ADVANCE on New Jupiter.

“I mean, we haven’t ruled out the possibility of highly advanced duplicates, but why would the Repub- the Reg- the IGR go to all that trouble? The simplest explanation - even if it still sounds pretty far-fetched - is that they're the same crew.

“Brian, if you’re listening to this – _Alvy's alive._ I know I didn’t work with him that long but I’m sure, I’m so sure it's really him. But it’s like Thasia and Other Violet said – none of them remember who they were, or their real names. Everyone here calls him Analyst Brannon – Michael Brannon.

“We’re not working very closely together, but I found an excuse to go over to his workstation and introduce myself, and – it seemed like he recognised me. I’m gonna try and find ways to talk to him – the real Alvy Connors is still in there, Brian, I’m sure of it.

“Is there anything you want me to… ask him? Maybe a question that only he would know the answer to?

“Sorry, I don’t have much more time – the IGR has listening devices planted throughout every Republic-issued apartment; everywhere except the bathroom. Even _they_ have to draw the line somewhere. I scanned it, and it’s clean, but if I remember right there are still sensors that will activate if you go above a certain noise, light or heat, threshold – y’know, in case anyone takes it upon themselves to… build a bomb in here or something. And I don’t want the bugs outside to pick up what I’m saying, which is why I’m whispering.

“But I can’t stay in here too long, or they’ll get suspicious, so – I’m fine, and so far I haven’t messed up or called the Republic the Regime or anything in earshot of anyone. And no-one has recognised me. Well, except for Alvy, maybe.

“I’m still trying to figure out what exactly they’re working on, here. If you’re going to go to the trouble of staffing a lab with the crew of an… of an exploded space ship, it must be important, right? Or maybe not. Maybe it’s just a test, to see how well they assimilate.

“I’ll let you know when I know more. Until then… stay safe. I will too. Violet Liu out.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 27 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hi, Liu. It’s me.

“I’ll keep this to the point, since I know you probably don’t have much time to spend playing back these messages. We’re all fine here. Kind of in a holding pattern, since there’s not much to do until we hear more from you or from Thasia and the other Violet, but it’s not too bad.

“Jeeter’s really happy, by the way, since he listened to your message. I mean, I think he’s still – processing – because he thought Connors was dead, he even wrote to his parents, and now we find out he’s alive, but not… y’know. Not Connors any more.

“But he’ll be fine. Krejjh is helping, which means the two of them are being even more nauseating then they usually are, and that’s saying something.

“Anyway. Listen, I know you want to try and get through to Connors, but… just be careful, okay? None of us, including Jeeter, wants you to get hurt or – worse – on the off chance that we might be able to bring him back. We always knew it was gonna be a long shot.

“Tripathi said to tell you the same, by the way. Well, she said it in a more… Tripathi… way, but the idea was the same. Find out what you can, but don’t get caught. We can’t afford to lo- to mess this up.

“Okay, I should go. Arkady Patel out.”

“This is lab report 06, week three. Analyst Brannon reporting on behalf of Gamma Team at ADVANCE.

“Since my last report, we have introduced the synthesized NDMA proteins to the solution and tested their interactions with samples representing different blood types. Six out of eight of the samples produced expected results, but two of the samples produced some unexpected interactions with the AB type blood cells, which warrants further testing and study.

“Specialist Huang, Analyst Vázquez and Assistant Hudson are progressing with their work on the histone deacetylases, which should be ready to introduce in the next phase of the solution, pending resolution of the AB blood cell issue.

“Okay, what else… Oh, Specialist Huang is integrating well with the team. She and I have had a couple of conversations, though our second one was unfortunately cut short when my headache started up again. Maybe I should bring it up with Dr. Starling…

“ _Damn it._ Is that the time? I was supposed to go for my treatment a half hour ago – damn it, damn it.

“Uh… I should probably redact that from the final report. This is Analyst Brannon, signing off. Long live the Republic.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 30 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hey guys, it’s me again. Violet. It feels kind of nice to use my own name for a change instead of being called ‘Specialist Huang’ all the time… I almost forgot to react to it once, though luckily Vázquez thought I was just focused on my work.

“Not a whole lot to report still – I’m still trying to figure out what it is the Regime is _doing_ in these labs. It’s something to do with DNA methylation and synthesized NDMA proteins – well, I won’t bore you with the science, but why would the IGR be working on that? Could be they’re trying to develop a neural enhancer, but for what? I haven’t ruled out the possibility of there being some kind of link to the nanobots, but no-one here has mentioned nanites, and there are no nanotech specialists working in the lab.

“They keep us very siloed, too. I know what _I’m_ working on, or at least what I have to do, but I don’t know why, and none of the people I work directly with seems to know what we’re developing here. Just something about a solution and blood cell samples. We might not even be the only lab working on this, which means I’ll have to find another way to get at the bigger picture.

“I spoke to Alvy a couple times – I was careful, Arkady, don’t worry. We didn’t manage to talk for long anyway – people don’t socialise much here. I’d kind of forgotten what it was like to work in this kind of environment, where no-one _trusts_ anyone or lets their guard down, because people will backstab each other for the slightest thing. Maybe they had a professional disagreement, or don’t get along, or they wanted to get the credit for the other person’s work. It doesn’t take much of an insinuation to get someone transferred or – worse.

“Nothing’s _happened_ , not yet, and it’s still nowhere near as bad as that student internship I did during the war. But it feels… tense, almost hair-trigger. I think I heard we’re having an inspection later on this week.

“Anyway, Alvy – I didn’t get to talk to him for very long, not just because of the environment, but because he had this headache come on the second time we talked. I’m not sure if it means anything – he said he gets them often. Brian, do you… remember him saying anything about that before?

“He seems a little different to the way I remember him on the Iris – a little more serious, less laid-back, though he’s still the friendliest person on the team. I didn’t… get to know him under the best circumstances, so I’m not sure if that’s due to the memory wipe or not.

“He also mentioned that he’s been seeing a doctor for these treatments – they all have. It could just be something to do with the away shuttle explosion, some kind of recovery program – there _was_ an explosion, even if it didn’t really kill anyone, and Alvy’s got these – support struts in one of his legs, I think they’re carbon fibre. He walks with a slight limp sometimes.

“It could be nothing, but I feel like it might be worth digging into? Arkady, are you able to poke around in ADVANCE’s systems a bit, see if you can find anything that resembles medical reports?

“I’d better go. I brought my makeup bag in here as a cover for taking a bit longer – I don’t even know if the IGR has cameras in these apartments, but better to be safe than sorry – but there’s only so long you can take to put on the bare minimum I wear.

“Send me a message when you can. Violet Liu, out.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 30 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hey, Liu. Good instincts on the medical treatment thing. I didn’t spot anything like that in my initial sweep of the system when I forged your interview and acceptance records, but I wasn’t on the lookout for it either.

“There’s a limit to what I can access without jacking directly into ADVANCE’s mainframe computer or piggybacking on their local network, but I’ll dig around as much as I can. _Jokingly:_ Worst comes to worst, we could always send Jeeter in with an earpiece and make him pose as a computer technician. 

“Oh, also, Jeeter says he doesn’t remember Alvy ever mentioning any kind of migraines or head pain. Apparently he’d go on these all-night coding benders and then sleep for two hours and be completely fine the next morning. Maybe it caught up to him, but – well, I’m not gonna jump to any conclusions. I’ll see what I can find in the medical records.

“Also – be careful with the inspection, okay? Your ID will hold up, Campbell doesn’t skimp on the quality, and you look different enough from the physical description they have on file, but those Regime higher-ups will ask some weird shit to catch you out.

“You’ve got the comm if you need us for anything. Just… keep your head down.

“Arkady Patel, out.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 31 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hey, Liu, listen. You were right. There’s something weird going on with these treatments.

“I managed to track down the medical records for the whole crew. Wasn’t easy, but I’ll save the tales of my security-defying exploits for another time. Anyway, I managed to hack into an account belonging to someone called Dr. Starling. They were brought onto ADVANCE’s payroll on June 1st – two days before the away shuttle exploded.

“There are files for all of them, and the scientific stuff doesn’t mean much to me, but from what I can tell, they’re monitoring them all for signs of what Starling calls ‘leakage’ – memories from their previous lives. Five of the other crew members have reported experiencing head pains, and it’s not a physical injury – Starling seems to think the pain is set off by them thinking back beyond a certain point, or being reminded of something from their past life. They upped the frequency of the ‘treatments’ to try and counter it, but so far it hasn’t worked.

“I think that’s what they’re for, the treatments – they’re keeping the crew’s memories suppressed. Which means, if they can be interfered with somehow…

“Bad news is, I can’t get into the scheduling system, not without access to the local network. But in Starling’s notes it says that Alvy was meant to come in for a treatment earlier today- well, yesterday technically, since it’s after 3am. But he didn’t show. So maybe you could get through to him.

“Obviously, don’t blow your cover, but if Alvy’s been getting these headaches a lot, it could mean he’s trying to remember? You said he got a headache when you guys talked – what were you talking about?”

 _A stifled yawn._ “Shit, I’d better sleep, Sana wanted me to help encrypt some intel to send to Thasia and the other Violet Liu first thing in the morning. I’ll talk to you later. Arkady Patel out.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED 31 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Arkady, you’re a _genius!_ Oh my god, I could kiss you.

“I’ve only skimmed the records you copied, but they make references to a solution that sounds a _lot_ like the one we’re developing in the lab. What if that’s the answer? What if that’s what the IGR is having the crew develop, another version of the treatment – maybe one that’s more permanent…

“…Oh god, that’s so dark. They’re having the crew work on _erasing their own memories_. It’s so inhuman, so – exactly what the IGR would do.

“–I have to go, I’ve got work in half an hour, but – this really helps. And I’ll try to talk to Alvy today, see if he seems any different after his missed treatment. Violet Liu out.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 31 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“You, uh—” _The sound of awkward throat-clearing._ “You are welcome. Yeah. Like I said, it’s uh, it’s what I do! So, no, uh thanks required. Though if you wanted to, I—

“Shit, I’ve gotta go, Sana needs me. Uh, Arkady Patel out.”

“This is lab report 07, week three. Analyst Brannon reporting on behalf of Gamma Team at ADVANCE.

“Major General Frederick conducted an inspection of our lab today. Full details of the inspection and the Major General’s impressions can be found in their report, but everything ran smoothly for the most part.

“The Major General was, uh, keen to move up the timeline on certain aspects of the testing. Supervisor Kaaka assured them that we will conduct accelerated modelling with our predictions algorithm and iron out the AB blood type issue as quickly as possible so we can develop a finalised solution. Combined with the work that is being conducted in parallel by Delta Team, this should then allow us to proceed fairly rapidly to tests on animal subjects.”

 _A long pause_.

“I… sorry, I… lost focus for a bit there, just thinking about… Okay, since I’m going to be redacting this segment from my report anyway, I – I rescheduled my missed appointment with Dr. Starling. They only had a slot available three days from now, but they told me to call immediately if I experienced any unusual side-effects from the missed treatment.

“Then last night, I had this… dream. Well. More like a nightmare, really. I was on a ship, and I was sending a message to – someone, I’m not sure who. A close friend, someone I trusted implicitly. And in the dream, I knew with total certainty that this would be the last thing I ever did.

“Not too far out of the ordinary for a nightmare, but it felt so _real_ , more real than anything I’ve ever dreamed about. Specialist Huang was there, and so was Technician Johnson – I could hear them talking, but I was trying to focus on what I was doing before my time ran out. And then – I don’t know, the dream ended there, but I can still recall every single detail of the interior of that room, the layout, and what was beyond the door – even though that wasn’t in the dream, I can picture it. Like I’ve been on that ship. But I’ve never been posted on a science vessel.

“That’s not all – as I was getting ready for work this morning, I started thinking about programming. I’ve never taken a single programming course, but suddenly I was – remembering things I’d programmed, and thinking about syntax – I think some of it was even in Dwarnian? As in, a Dwarnian coding language?

“It kind of faded when I tried to recall more of the details, and it went out of my mind during the inspection, but – just now, looking at this computer, it came back so _clearly._ I’ve had these – moments – before where I’m suddenly sure I can do things with computers, not just the basics or the modelling algorithms I run for work, but – advanced stuff. Stuff like creating programmes, building parts of systems, even breaking encryption. But as soon as I try to focus on it, to figure out where those thoughts came from, the headaches start up again.

“And then, in the mess today, I was talking to Specialist Huang and she asked me… It was weird, she said she had a temp role on a ship where they used ELLA, you know, that really basic, budget voice access software? I said it must’ve been a pretty poorly-paid role if they skimped that much on their software. But she said it was a good posting. Then she asked me if I’d ever used it. And I was about to say no, when I realised I _had_. But I don’t remember when, or where, and the more I focus the _fuzzier_ it gets. How can I be so sure of this and yet not remember anything? _Why_ am I so sure about this?

“I know I should tell Dr. Starling about all this, but I don’t – I don’t know whether I…

“I just need some space to try and figure it out on my own, first.

“…Fuck, okay, I need to wrap up this report, somehow. What if I could encrypt…” _Keyboard tapping sounds_. “…a backup copy of this recording and store it in a secure partition on – there. I just need some proof… I need to know this isn’t just all in my head.

“I’m also not exactly sure how I just did that, but I’ll figure that out later. Hopefully.”

 _Throat clearing, sounding suddenly composed and professional._ “Accordingly, I will commence the next phase of predictions algorithm modelling starting tomorrow at 0700 sharp, working directly with Supervisor Kaaka to tweak the models and re-run them until the issue is resolved. From there, we will produce an amended solution and re-test it with the blood type samples to ensure interactions are as expected.

“In my next report, I will give an update on our progress in this area. The Major-General also requested more frequent updates on our lab’s work on the solution, so I will be upping these reports to every other day instead of twice weekly.

“This is Analyst Brannon signing off; long live the Republic.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 1 AUGUST 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hi, guys, it’s Violet.

“I, uh… We had the lab inspection. Today. It was Major General Frederick – the official Park talked about in his intel – who came to visit the lab. The others have mentioned them too, a couple of times; I think they’re responsible for overseeing everything here at ADVANCE.

“Before you start worrying, everything went fine. Major General Frederick seemed more interested in terrorising the poor supervisor into accelerating the timeline for the testing. We’ve – _they’ve_ been having this issue with some of the blood samples, and well, the top brass… uh, aren’t happy with the speed that things have been progressing, and they want it resolved. I spoke to Mich- Alvy in the mess hall, and he said that he’ll be pulling an eleven-hour shift tomorrow to run algorithm modelling until they figure out what’s causing it.

“The Major General did take an interest in me, and spent a lot of time just standing by my workstation watching me work. Every so often, they’d ask me a question, so I couldn’t really divert my attention away or properly focus on what I was doing, but y’know, God forbid I slip up and make a mistake in front of the Major General.

“It’s not… the first time I’ve had this tactic used on me, and it is a tactic. But the scariest thing wasn’t the idea of making a mistake, or of blowing my cover. It was how _familiar_ it felt. Like I’d never been away from the Republic at all.

“…Regime. From the Regime.

“Major General Frederick started with questions about the research and testing, pretty basic stuff, though a lot of it was related to work that was outside of my purview, or to things that happened before I arrived. Luckily, I’ve been spending all of my free time getting caught up. Some of the questions related to what we were working towards, and of course those were designed to catch me out, because there’s no way for me to know that, but I can’t just say I haven’t been told.

“Fortunately, I was able to give the perfect Regime subject response: that we were working to further the ambitions of our glorious Republic, break ground on some of the most advanced science in the galaxy, blah blah blah… Then they switched to asking questions about my background and work history. All the intel and coaching Brian gave me on Brightwell really helped there. The information about the Mars base, too.

“What disturbed me was how… I’ve never been much of an actress. I did a bit of amateur theatre at school – no opera, sorry, Arkady, but I tried out for the part of Eliza in Pygmalion in sophomore year. Instead I was cast as a bystander in the opening scene.” _A quiet laugh._ “But playing this role, the role of the obedient subject under the Regime… It comes so easily. And I know it’s not _me_ , I know I was never like this even at my… most naïve… But it still gets inside my head, and I can feel myself falling back into the old habits, the mental contradictions, the euphemisms… the constant self-censoring and second-guessing. It’s like I never really got away – and this whole time, it’s been here, just waiting to pull me back in.

“Sorry for… unloading all that on you. I’ll be fine, I promise – I can still do this, it just… rattled me. But not for the reasons I thought it would.

“Uh, what else… Oh, right – I mentioned that I spoke to Alvy in the mess earlier today, and that was pretty interesting. I managed to work the conversation around to ELLA, and I asked him if he’d ever used it. He seemed like he was about to say no, but then he caught himself, and seemed confused, like maybe he’d remembered something he couldn’t reconcile. He said that he thinks he did, a while ago, and then we got onto talking about something else – but he didn’t complain of any head pain this time. I’m not sure if that’s a bad sign, or maybe it’s because of the missed treatment?

“Because of this accelerated timeline we’re all now working to, it might be harder to find a good moment to send my next update – I think I’ve got some overtime in my future too. On the plus side, it gives me more time to spend with the solution and see if I can figure out how the IGR did what it did, and if there’s a way to reverse it.

“But if you don’t hear from me for a few days, it’ll be because I’m working, not in trouble. I promise I’ll use the comm if anything happens.

“I hope you’re all still okay, and not too bored. Can you… tell me about some of the things that have been happening on the ship? Literally anything, it doesn’t even have to be interesting. It’ll just help me to… you know. Stay sane.

“Okay, I should go, and um, thanks for listening. Violet Liu out.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 1 AUGUST 2191. LAST ACCESSED: 3 AUGUST 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hey, Violet, it’s Sana here. First, I wanted to thank you for taking the time to send these updates so frequently and read us in on the situation – I know it can’t be easy to evade the Regime’s always-listening ears as often as you do.” _Wry amusement._ “It’s definitely helped keep Arkady from climbing the walls a couple times, and of course the two of you were able to work together to get those medical records from ADVANCE and figure out what the lab is developing, which is amazing. To know as much as we do, in just six days? It’s honestly more than I’d dared hope for. We’ve only been able to fill Thasia and the other Violet in very briefly, but I’m pretty sure they’re impressed, too.

“Other than that, what can I tell you… we’ve been making plans for how we could make a supply run on New Jupiter if we need to, though our supplies from Hefizah plus the extras that Campbell fielded for us have been holding up pretty well. Brian’s been trying out some uh… creative new techniques in the kitchen. Which has added some… variety, and that’s always a nice thing to have!

“Arkady won’t tell you this herself, but… well, let’s just say you’ve been missed. She’s been spending a lot more time down in the engine room lately. She says she’s tuning up the truck, but there’s only so much tuning you can do to one vehicle, you know? And she always brightens up whenever there’s a message from you.

 _More serious now:_ “With all of that said, the most important thing is _your safety._ It’s more important than intel and it’s more important than these updates. So please be careful and only get in touch with us if it’s safe for you to do so. I know how good you are at this, so I won’t second-guess you, but – still. If it came down to completing the mission versus compromising it to get you out safely, you know which one we’d pick in a heartbeat.

“Hopefully it won’t be too long before we get a chance to talk again. Until then, Sana Tripathi out.”

“Hey, dude, it’s Brian. How’re you holding up? I hope the lab inspection wasn’t too rough. Y’know, I used to have this one tutor at Wexler who would do something similar – I got along with most of my tutors and the staff in the linguistics faculty, but this one guy? He would just, like, patrol the rows of chairs in the lecture hall – talking the whole time, so sometimes you got a crick in your neck craning to follow him – and then stand behind someone and like, breathe down the back of their neck while they were taking notes. And then he would ask them a pop quiz question. Sometimes related to the lecture material, sometimes not.

“Kept us on our toes, but man, his classes were not popular. Of course, if you didn’t go, then you risked flunking your exams because he never shared written notes or audio material – everything you needed to know was in those lectures.

“Anyway, that just kind of gave me flashbacks to college, which is always fun, right? Figures the Regime would use the same methods as a terminally insecure and bad-tempered college professor.

“We’ve just been kinda cooling our heels over here, not much new happening from day to day. But y’know, we keep ourselves occupied. Krejjh and I came up with this new game, which is kind of like darts? But we use pens – _aerodynamic_ pens – and throw them at the wall. Or, uh, a piece of paper. Definitely not the wall. The winner is whoever can make the most interesting pattern in three goes. Krejjh kind of has an advantage what with the whole multiple arms thing, but I give it my best shot!

“Okay, Arkady said not to make these too long, so I’ll just say… What you’re doing for Alvy? It means… more than I can say. Like, I know things could still go sideways, I’ve always known that, but– knowing that he’s out there somewhere, alive, and you talked to him? Knowing there’s–” _Voice breaking slightly._ “That there’s hope? I can’t even describe it.

“So… thank you, Violet Liu. I’ll see you soon. Brian Jeeter out.”

“Good morning, Science Officer Liu! It’s your favourite Dwarnian pilot here with some news from your favourite dashing, space-faring crew. The past couple weeks have been a little low on top-speed, high-velocity escapes, but I am finding some ways to entertain myself! Crewman Jeeter and I have recently been making preparations for our fifteenth all-night Sh’th Hremreh marathon, complete with, uhhh—” _Faintly:_ “Crewman Jeeter, what’s the name of that snack, the round… no, the one we tried making in the kitchen and First Mate Patel swore at us when we set off the – popcorn! Yeah!

 _Sounding louder again:_ “Complete with popcorn! We invited Captain Tripathi and First Mate Patel, but the Captain said she’d promised to call Campbell and check in, though she might join us later. And First Mate Patel… well, she said no. Sorry you won’t be able to join either, but we can always hold another one for when you get back! Sixteenth time’s the charm, as they say… Well, okay, they _should_ say that.

“What else… Oh, Crewman Jeeter has been trying out some Dwarnian cooking techniques! Dwarnian-human fusion cooking is a specialty in Neuzo – they have some _great_ food places, most of them super-shady and kind of… mob-run? But _so good._ You just have to keep your wits about ya.

“Unfortunately a lot of human spices and uh, flavouringplants? No wait, herbs, that was it. A lot of ‘em don’t really come close to replicating the range of flavours found in Dwarnian food, but it’s always fun to try!

“I’m gonna sign off so that you can hear from _First Mate Patel_ , but keep your elbows up, Science Officer Liu! As we say where I’m from: you’ve come a long way, so don’t look behind you. Okay, it sounds kinda weird in Earth English, but the equivalent is something like… uhhh, ‘there’s a light at the end of the tunnel’? But with a side of ‘no regrets’, kinda? Anyway, the point is, you’re doing great. Oh, here comes First Mate Patel. Krejjh out!”

“Hey, Liu. I’m guessing that by now, having heard from Tripathi, Jeeter and Krejjh, you’ve probably had your fill of clichéd pick-me-ups in both English _and_ Dwarnian, so I’ll spare you the platitudes.

“You’ve also probably heard by now about Jeeter’s bizarre attempts at Dwarnian cooking, as well as whatever weird game he and Krejjh have been playing that involves throwing things at walls. Oh yeah, and the time they almost set fire to the kitchen making popcorn? Never a dull moment around here, I tell you.

“Some new mint plant shoots have been coming through the soil in the greenhouse, by the way. So y’know, once you get back, we can have herbal tea again. I mean, if that’s something you want – maybe you secretly hated the tea I made you. In which case, no obligation. But they’re there, anyway. I had to fend Jeeter off the oregano and basil while he was making his weird Dwarnian food – I let him have some, but there’s no way any amount of herbs was going to make that stuff edible to anyone but Krejjh.

“Problem is, with you gone, there’s only me and Sana left to keep some of their weirder impulses in check, and _that_ means we don’t have a majority. Also, Sana _seems_ responsible, but we’re also talking about the woman who built a hammock out of the emergency harnesses by the airlock, so. We’re at a serious imbalance without you here.

“So… all the more reason for you to come back in one piece. Also, morning cleaning duty is really boring on my own.

“In seriousness, you… you’re doing… good. A good job. I don’t think I could’ve dealt with that bullshit from Major General Frederick without snapping and punching them in the jaw. But you managed to do all that _and_ find a chance to bring up ELLA with Alvy in the mess hall. If you’re not careful, Thasia and the other Violet will be drafting you up for whatever shady spy organisation they work for.

“…But don’t run off and become an intergalactic super-spy. At least, not without me. I mean because – you never know when you’ll need someone to break into a secure system, so it makes sense to keep me around. Right?

“Right. I’m gonna… go now. Hope the message helped. And if it didn’t, something from one of the others probably did.

“Arkady Patel out.”

“This is lab report 08, week three. Analyst Brannon reporting on behalf of Gamma Team at ADVANCE.

 _Tiredly:_ “After eleven hours of concerted effort, Supervisor Kaaka and I have successfully ironed out the issue with the solution interaction with AB blood type samples. Tomorrow, the amended solution will be produced and re-tested with the blood type samples, which according to our predictions model will now product the desired results.

“From there, we will be able to combine our work with the serum produced by Delta Team, and will then proceed to animal subject testing.

“My thanks to Major General Frederick for providing the incentive to move our team past this hurdle that we encountered, which has significantly advanced our progress towards our goal.

“This is Analyst Brannon signing off. Long live the Republic.”

_A pause._

“Okay, now that’s done... Specialist Yeboah was off sick today – seems she came down with the flu, one of the evolved highly contagious strains that still hasn’t been completely eradicated. I found out that because she’s due to have her treatment soon, the dispensary’s office remotely issued her a dose that she can take at home, instead of having to miss a treatment.

“I managed to hack into the system and clone the form, changing the details so it looks like it was issued to me, and then go to the dispensary and pick up another treatment. I told them Dr. Starling issued it because they couldn’t fit me in for an appointment soon enough, and didn’t want me to miss a dose. Then I told Dr. Starling that the dispensary issued me with a treatment remotely, on orders from the higher-ups, so that I could take it sooner without having to miss my lab shift for an appointment. They didn’t question it. Long live IGR bureaucracy.

“Of course, I’m not gonna take it. I haven’t thrown away the solution, because there’s a chance I could maybe do something with it, I dunno – take it in small doses if I get withdrawal symptoms, maybe. I stored it in a space behind the medicine cabinet, in a different container so I could return the empty syringe to the dispensary.

“It’s bought me a little time – five days maybe, assuming that I return to my regular treatment schedule after this and no-one catches on. Maybe not long enough to figure out what’s really happening here, but I can try.

“I feel… more awake than I’ve been in weeks, maybe longer, I don’t know – it’s still hard to think back beyond when I started working at ADVANCE. I have memories but they’re vague, insubstantial. Which could mean that they’re not real, or it could mean that they are and that’s why I can’t remember.

“I had another weird dream last night. There was this guy there, I don’t know his name but he was so familiar, and we were in a… bar, I guess? We were laughing, just joking around, the guy had like, bits of citrus fruit in his hair – and then we went to get pancakes together. That was it. It was an awesome dream, as far as they go, but when I woke up I felt…” _Trailing off._

“I just felt this overwhelming sadness, and I don’t even know why.”

_A long silence._

“This is, uh… Michael Brannon, signing off. I think.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 4 AUGUST 2191.

“Hey, everyone, it’s Violet. Thank you so much for the messages you sent, they really helped me to… They were really helpful. I appreciated them so much.

“You’re not going to _believe_ what I found today. Okay, so for the past few days we’ve been working on combining the solution from our lab with a serum created by another team, Delta Team, and then we’re going to move onto testing the effects on animals. I’m not even sure what these effects are supposed to _be_ , but supposedly someone on our team knows.

“Anyway, because Delta Team is based on the other side of the building – all the better to keep us siloed, right? – I’ve been going back and forth between the two lab spaces, just transferring samples and so on, and I got a bit turned around. I opened this door which I’m pretty sure is normally locked, but I think someone forgot to reset the code? The lab number was 1032. And inside were all these empty-looking tanks – just like Emily Craddock described in her message to Alvy. Except, of course, there were no captured Dwarnians in them, but – I am _so sure_ that they contained the strains of nanoswarm that the Regime has been programming.

“I didn’t really look around, because I was _not_ meant to be in there and I didn’t know how long I had until someone came back, but I managed to swipe a recording device off one of the tables, and it has some logs on it that seem to be from when the swarm was reprogrammed? You guys will have more time to review it than I do, so I’ve uploaded a copy of the logs. Maybe you could even get it to the other Violet and Thasia.

“Oh, and don’t worry – I used the jammer that Arkady gave me, so it should just seem like the cameras in the lab glitched, and they won’t have recorded me taking the device. But now that we know where the swarm is being kept – what if we could free them? What if we could communicate with them? Brian, what are the chances you could put together some kind of message in Vree Chel Nokean for me to relay to the swarm? If I can sneak into the lab after hours – it’s worth a shot, right?

“Let me know what you all think. Violet Liu out.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 4 AUGUST 2191

“Hey, Violet, it’s Sana here. Listen, this is a major discovery and it’s amazing that you found the swarm, but I think we need to think this through carefully. We hadn’t planned for what we might do if we found the rest of the swarm – our whole mission plan centred on finding Alvy and the rest of the Iris crew, while figuring out what they’re using the lab to develop. I also think it’s likely that Lab 1032 is a closely watched and highly secure space, which means it’s not going to be somewhere you can just sneak into on a whim. Well – again.

“We need to think through the implications of what this might mean if we divert our mission to free the swarm, and how we would go about doing that. There’s a very real chance that this would blow your cover, so we would need to plan an exit for you, immediately. Also—”

“—also it’s incredibly dangerous and _you should not do that._ Look, we don’t even know if this swarm is free or brainwashed, right? If you do anything – which includes trying to _talk to it_ – it could broadcast literally everything you say right back to the Regime.”

“Yes, good point, Arkady. Violet, we can definitely work on adapting this into our mission plan, but I think we’d need to discuss it with the other Violet and Thasia, to see what they say. Who knows, they might even want to send in another agent undercover who can focus on freeing the swarm. It’d be great if we could do it, but – it adds a lot of unpredictable variables. What would we do with the swarm once we’ve freed it? And like Arkady said, if it’s brainwashed – that could work against us in a major way.”

“On the other hand—” _Some quiet shuffling noises._ “Hey, Brian here. If Other Violet and Thasia send in another agent, they’d have to build up their cover, right? And that would take a while. Plus, what are the odds that they speak classical Vre Chel Nokean? Whereas we have someone in place, who—”

“Who _also doesn’t speak Vre Chel Nokean.”_

“I mean, I could give her some simple phrases? Like, _byalla_ , that means ‘hello’ – well, strictly translated it’s more like ‘arrival’, but it’s the most common greeting – and then _farkan_ is ‘friends’. There’s also _sh-ned jve-ra_ , which means ‘I love you’, and you can use that to show that you’re not a threat—”

“And if it’s brainwashed, what exactly is the point of talking to it?”

“Well… It could be worth a shot? Like, Violet got through to Alvy, maybe she could get through to the swarm in the same way, by reminding it of its forgotten past.”

“Brian, it’s a good theory, but I think if it were that simple, Thasia would have said so – they were pretty clear that the only way to reset the nanos to their default state was with a blast of high heat. Or with a majority of a freed swarm, as we know.”

 _Defeatedly_ : “Yeah, I guess. It’s not like I want to jeopardise the mission to free Alvy, but – what if we could do both? We know what the swarm can do, so if it could help us in some way – we’d be dealing a pretty big blow to the Regime at the same time, by freeing it.”

“I’ll tell you what. Brian, since you’re a linguist and Arkady, you know how to crack code – why don’t both of you take a look at the reports that Violet sent over, and see if you can figure out anything about how the swarm is programmed and how to get through to it. Violet, hold off on sneaking into the lab for now, but if there’s any information you can gather on what they’re currently doing in there and how they’re engineering the swarm, it’d give us more to go on. We don’t even know if this swarm is programmed to eavesdrop – it could be capable of something completely different.

“We’ve made some amazing progress on this, and I’m really proud of you all. We just need to be a little careful about how we plan our next move, so that we can get the best effect out of it. I trust you all, and I know we will figure this out really soon. Until then, Violet, great work – and as always, let us know if you need anything.

“Sana Tripathi, out.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 5 AUGUST 2191.

“Hey, guys. Captain, what you said makes a lot of sense, and you’re right that we don’t really know what this strain of the swarm is capable of. Brian, Arkady – I’ll wait to hear back about what you figure out from the logs I took from Lab 1032.

“In the meantime, now that our lab has combined our solution with the serum from Delta Team, I have a more complete picture of how it could be designed to affect the brain. Brian, what you said about getting through to Alvy, it gave me a thought – I’m not sure yet, but I think I might know how the treatment – or solution, or whatever you want to call it – is designed to affect memory. If I’m right, it could help me reverse-engineer it into an antidote.

“It’s really just a theory at this point, but – well, I’ll update you guys when I know any more. Violet Liu out.”

“This is lab report 09, week three. Analyst Brannon reporting on behalf of Gamma Team at ADVANCE.

“The team has just finished combining our solution with the serum provided by Delta Team, work which was marginally delayed due to the absence of Specialist Yeboah, who is suffering from a highly contagious influenza strain. However, I’ve been told she is making a swift recovery and will return to the lab tomorrow to help oversee the first of our tests of the combined solution’s effects on laboratory rats.

“Supervisor Kaaka, along with Specialists Yeboah and Chang, will be conducting the tests with a view to observing whether the combined solution produces the desired behaviours. Based on their findings, the rest of the team will then make any required modifications to the solution, after which further testing will ensue until we have a version that is ready to be tested on larger mammals.

“In my next update, I will report back on the progress of the first round of animal testing. This is Analyst Brannon signing off; long live the Republic.”

_A pause._

“Okay. God, it gets harder to keep doing those and still sound like my old self. Well – maybe not old. Anyway – I’ve been doing some discreet poking around the systems here at ADVANCE. Nothing that could get me caught, just… seeing how far in I could get.

“It was a hunch, but I managed to hack into the account belonging to Dr. Starling. I guess I thought I’d see if I could find any more information in their medical reports that would tell me what’s in these treatments they’ve been giving us and what they’re designed to do. Because well-” _Brief, mirthless laughter._ “I think it’s pretty obvious by now that they’re not just designed to aid tissue repair.

“And… yeah, was I ever right about that one. So, first of all – Starling’s notes show that they’ve been monitoring us all for signs of something they call ‘leakage’ – parts of our past lives and memories leaking through the – through the false identities.

“Yeah, I said false identities. Because it turns out? My real name isn’t Michael Brannon. I mean, I kind of suspected, knew something had felt off this whole time, what with the dreams and the head pain, the way that I can’t recall my own history clearly – but I figured it was… amnesia or something. Not… a totally different self.

“They just–” _Shaking with barely contained rage._ “They just overwrote our personalities, our _lives_ , reprogrammed us like we weren’t even _people_. All of us. Not just me, but Yeboah, Chang, Kaaka, Vázquez, Hudson, even Johnson. I couldn’t find any information on who we – used to be, but there was some kind of an event, a shuttle explosion, that all of us were involved in, and afterwards the IGR brought us back to New Jupiter and… erased all our memories. Overwrote them with new identities. And put us to work in a lab.

“I say ‘all of us’, but there’s one person who isn’t in any of the records – Specialist Huang. So far as I can tell, she’s not receiving any treatments, and Dr. Starling doesn’t have a file on her. Which I guess makes sense – she joined the lab recently, whereas the rest of us have been here since – well, since the explosion. But why would they just let an outsider take up a role in the middle of this classified project? Either she’s some kind of a plant from the IGR to observe how we all interact – but you’d think Dr. Starling could learn that much from us – or she’s not meant to be here at all.

“Because that’s another thing – I wasn’t the first person to investigate these files. Whoever it was was careful – you can barely tell they’ve been accessed, and it wouldn’t be apparent from the outside, only to someone else who was poking around in the system. But I don’t think I’m the first person to hack in looking for those records.

“I _work_ with Specialist Huang, though, and she’s… not exactly what I’d call tech-literate? I mean, it could be a front. Or more likely, she has an accomplice.

“On another hunch, I went to see if I could find a record of her interview and acceptance to the posting. They’re definitely in the system, along with an ID that _looks_ completely genuine, but – I spotted some of the same traces as before, and I think they were added by someone who hacked into the system. Meaning that Specialist Huang could be… an undercover agent.

“But why is she here? Why bother to infiltrate this lab project? And why was she in that dream that I had? I feel like I’m so close to putting all of the pieces together, and I’m just… missing a couple…

“I’ve got three days until my next treatment is due. If I don’t manage to figure it out before then, well – either I’ll be back to square one, with the head pains and that lingering sense of unreality… Or maybe I’ll remember all this, and find a way to – what? Recover my memories? Get out?

“…Well, one step at a time. For now, this is ‘Michael Brannon’, signing off.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 7 AUGUST 2191.

“Hey, it’s me. Listen, before I give you my update, um… you have to promise not to get mad. I didn’t mean to – well, it’s probably more accurate to say that I didn’t _set out_ to do what I did, because I know we agreed that I wouldn’t, but I had an opportunity and I took it, because – okay, I should probably just tell you what I did. Um.” _A deep breath._

“I talked to the swarm.

“Before you say it – I _know_ we agreed it would be too dangerous to try communicating, and I wasn’t _trying_ to break into Lab 1032, but – if I was going to try and re-engineer this solution into an antidote, I really needed to work on it when no-one was around. So, I came back to the lab late, figuring that if anyone caught me I could say that I was putting in overtime, or that I’d forgotten something. There’s a night staff, and guards, but – well, they don’t pay very close attention to who’s coming in and out of the building.

“Anyway, after a couple of hours, I took a break to go to the bathroom, and when I passed by the corridor that leads to Lab 1032, it looked like the door was ajar? I’m not sure, but I think that someone who works in that lab has been keeping the door unlocked so that they don’t have to input the code every time they want to go in.

“I thought maybe, if I could return the recording device I took from there, they’d think it was just misplaced for a couple of days and it would seem less suspicious. And then, while I was in there, I saw that a mic had been left on that was connected to some speakers on the tanks – presumably so that they can test how the swarm responds to orders? And I just… well, I used the word that Brian mentioned – _Byalla, farken_ , and then I tried to say, uh, _Thasia jre-gesh?_ Which is a phrase I remembered from the Nanoswarm’s message – and then, _Jned shvera._ Or, sorry, _shned jvera_. Uh, the one that means ‘I love you’.

“And what came back was, uh…”

_Distorted: “Nak jre-yaver?”_

“I left really quickly after that, and managed to dodge a guard who was on his patrol, and get back to the lab. I know you’ll tell me it was stupid, and risky, and not worth it, but – I have a theory that it’s all linked somehow, what they did to the swarm and what they did to Alvy and the crew of the Iris. Like maybe reprogramming the nanobots in that way… gave them the idea for how they could do it to humans. That maybe we could get through to all of them in the same way.

“Before I left for the night, I made good progress with the substance that I think _should_ disrupt the effects of the treatment we’ve been working on. It helps that the lab’s facilities are state of the art, and I have all of the components there. Of course, I haven’t been able to test it, though I used Alvy’s terminal to do some prediction modelling.

“I’m not sure exactly how we’ll manage to get the antidote – if it _is_ an antidote – to Alvy and the crew or how we can disrupt the swarm’s programming to set it free, but… I couldn’t just sit by and do nothing. I did… enough of that in my time as part of the IGR. I had a chance to _do something_ here, so I took it.”

 _Lightly:_ “And if it all goes horribly wrong, at least you’ll know where to find me.

“Violet Liu out.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 7 AUGUST 2191.

“Liu, that was _incredibly goddamn dangerous._ Didn’t you say that lab has cameras? What would you say if they caught you – ‘Sorry, I didn’t realise that lab was off-limits, I just stopped by for a chat with the friendly alien nanoswarm?’ Is it worth risking your _life_ just on the off chance that it _might_ talk back?

“Look, I can hack into the system and try to obtain any footage the camera caught, see if I can delete it, but – I can’t guarantee it’ll work. And there’s a chance you might already be compromised. If you are, we’ve got half a dozen plans to get you out of there, but we can only move so fast. ‘Knowing where to find you’ doesn’t help if you’re already _dead_.”

 _A pause, the sound of a slow breath out._ “But, what’s done is done, so just – check in as often as you can, and if we don’t hear from you for twenty-four hours, we’ll come in after you.”

_Another, longer pause._

“It’s not the – fact that you did something risky that bothers me. God knows we do risky stuff all the time. It’s just – don’t act like your own life is worth nothing, okay? The first time we met – well, talked – you were ready to give up your life for a tray of samples. Like you didn’t even matter. And I know you’re not just trying to help the swarm, you’re also trying to help Alvy, and the rest of the crew – even though by the sounds of it, they were pretty shitty to you. But it still feels like… like the Regime has you convinced of that all over again.

“And I just want you to know that it’s not true.

“Oh, also, Jeeter wants a word.”

“Hey, dude, you talked to the swarm! That’s amazing! I know Arkady is mad about it, and – well, she’s kinda right, but still – super exciting. I’m really impressed you remembered those phrases I told you, and the one from the transmission, too.

“So, I translated what the swarm said back to you, and it means – _‘Where are we?’_ Which is, like, really huge! I think that when you mentioned Thasia, it triggered a brief moment of awareness? Or maybe it was just the fact that you were clearly a friend, but – something you said got through to it.

“Arkady and I have been working on the logs from Lab 1032, which have told us a lot about how the Regime managed to reprogram the nanoswarm. And after what you sent us, it gave me an idea – what if we could disrupt their programming? Using, like – a virus?

“Arkady thinks it’s a long shot, but we’re gonna start work on it anyway. With any luck, we won’t need it, but if we do? Well, it’d be a pretty good trick to have up our sleeve.

“Keep safe, Violet, and uh… if you get the chance? Tell Alvy I said hi.

“Brian Jeeter, out.”

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 8 AUGUST 2191.

“Hey, it’s me. Just checking in, as promised.

“Arkady, you… have every right to be angry, and I know how it must seem. I promise I’m not just buying into the Regime’s brainwashing about my own lack of worth. I mean, there was a time that I did buy into that, and being back here, I can feel those old patterns of thinking pulling at me again. But… there’s more to it than that.

“I’ve lived for a long time with the knowledge that one wrong move could cost me… more than just my job, or my reputation. My first year of college, I watched half the faculty just – disappear. And I’ve had friends who… I don’t think I’ll ever see or hear from again.

“Living under the Regime, a lot of the time I was just trying to get by, to help people where I could, but – it never felt like enough. I felt insignificant all of the time. That’s how they operate, right? They make surviving just enough of an effort – keep you just beaten down enough – that it doesn’t feel worth it to fight for anything.

“But then I met you, and Brian, and the Captain, and Krejjh, and – seeing how you live, the chances you take because it’s _worth it_ , to be able to make your own choices, even when there’s a risk – it changed the way I thought. Because dying was always there before, and it’s still here now – but if what I do with the time that I have can achieve something, even a small victory? Then to me, it’s worth it.”

 _A knock can be heard very faintly._ “Hold on, there’s someone at the – I’ll talk to you later. Violet Liu, out.”

_“Attempting connection… attempting connection… attempting connection-”_

“Violet. What’s happening?”

“Uh, this isn’t – it’s uh, not Violet.”

_“…Alvy?”_

“Is that… do you know me? Is that the name you know me by?”

“That’s your name. Alvy Connors. I’m Arkady Patel, a crewmate of your friend, Brian Jeeter.”

“Brian…”

“We can go over the details later. Where did you get this comm?”

“Uh, right, so – your friend, uh, Violet? The woman I know as Jessica Huang? I’m in her apartment. She didn’t show up for work this morning, and I thought – I suspected that she wasn’t who she said she was. And I thought that the Republic might have… found out.

“As soon as I could, I came by her apartment, and the door was unlocked. There’s no signs of any – struggle, but there was a cup of coffee left out, as if someone had made it and didn’t get the chance to drink it. If she’d left voluntarily and gone into hiding, I figure she would have cleaned up something like that. It looks like they took the computer she was using, but this was in the gap behind the medicine cabinet. My apartment has the same hiding-place.”

“ _Shit._ Okay. Sana, we need to—” _Muffled talking off-mic._

 _Faintly, in the background._ “Hey, who are you talking to? Is that—”

“Jeeter. It’s Connors.”

_A sharp intake of breath._

“Sana and I need to figure out how we’re gonna go after Violet, so – you talk to him. Don’t take too long – you’ve got maybe two minutes, tops.”

“Sure, yeah, of course—” _Fumbling noises as the comm is passed over._ “Alvy? Is that you?”

“Hey, is this… Brian?”

“Y-yeah, that’s me. Brian Jeeter. I guess you don’t really remember—”

“Did we… ever work at a bar together? Uh, kind of a run-down place, lot of weird clientele? And one time we got waffles afterwards, with—”

“Dwarnian mead. It tastes exactly like pancake syrup. Yeah.”

“Wow. Okay, so that wasn’t just a dream. I don’t remember everything, but – bits of it have been coming back to me. Since I skipped out on my treatment.”

“Dude, what they did to you…”

“Yeah. I haven’t even begun to really wrap my head around it, but – with any luck, I’ll have time. Listen, your friend, Violet – do I know her too? As Violet, I mean?”

“Uh, sorta? You guys met during a mission, on a science vessel called the Iris. It was right before, uh—”

“Before the explosion.”

“Yeah.” _Shakily:_ “We, uh – we all thought you were dead.”

“I guess I… kind of was, for a while there anyway.”

“Alvy, I – it’s so good to hear your voice. I thought I’d… never hear it again. After that day.”

“Well, looks like you’re stuck with me, now.” _A rush of shaky, uncertain laughter._ “Listen, I should probably go before someone finds me here, but – is there anything I can do to help?”

“Uh… okay, this might sound like kind of a weird request, but – do you still remember how to code?”

“Yeah, pretty well, I think. I mean, I haven’t _tried_ it lately, but a lot of computer stuff’s been coming back to me over the past couple days. Why?”

“Me and Arkady – the woman you spoke to first – have been working on this virus, to uh, disrupt the programming on some sentient alien nanobots?”

“…Seems reasonable.”

“Heheh, yeah, so – we could use a second coder; Arkady knows a lot about breaking into systems, but developing a virus is kind of outside her comfort zone. And well, my linguistics knowledge isn’t helping that much. D’you think you could take a look at it?”

“Sure. When do you need it by?”

“As soon as possible, really? I mean, if you can finish it. No worries if you can’t. It’s kind of a… niche request.”

“I mean, after the week I’ve had, this seems pretty normal.”

 _Laughing._ “I guess you’re right. Hey, uh – keep the comm with you, just in case. Violet obviously can’t… use it, and this will give us a way to communicate.”

“Will do. I guess I’d better… get going, though. For now.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

_A pause._

“I’ve – I really missed you, bud.”

“Me too, Brian. Mic- Alvy Connors, out.”

“Commence recording.

“This is interrogation 01 of prisoner 435, Violet Liu; alias Jessica Huang; alias Cindy Chu. Major General Frederick interrogating.

“So, Violet Liu. You kept your little game going for quite some time. It was quite a clever job you did, forging the records of your acceptance to the lab within the system – no doubt the work of your hacker friend, the former Cresswin Landing inmate.

“Not going to say anything? That’s all right – you’ll be speaking up soon enough. You see, we knew that you must have had help from an accomplice inside our ranks. How else, after all, would you have known about the existence of Project Oblivion? And it just so happens that earlier today, one Michael Brannon was spotted entering your apartment.”

 _Quietly, furiously:_ “His name’s Alvy Connors. And he had nothing at all to do with this.”

 _Smug:_ “I told you that you’d be speaking up soon enough. Unfortunately, all evidence points towards the fact that Mr. Brannon has been assisting you for some time. We observed numerous conversations taking place between the two of you during work hours-”

“We’re _colleagues._ We _socialise._ Are you telling me that’s now a crime?”

“-despite the fact that you would have had little cause to speak with each other outside of the immediate context of your laboratory tasks. Mr. Brannon has also been exhibiting unusual behaviour for the past several days, and has failed to attend mandatory medical treatments; we also have reason to believe that he has obtained and copied confidential personnel files.”

“That was—”

“—Yes? Do go on, Ms. Liu, I am all ears.”

“You _know_ that Alvy’s innocent. He hasn’t been my accomplice – you _brainwashed_ him so that he didn’t even know who I was.”

“On the contrary, Violet Liu, we have a great deal of evidence to suggest Mr. Brannon’s guilt. Unless you, of course, have a means of proving otherwise?”

_Silence._

“Then regrettably, we will be forced to proceed on the basis that Mr. Brannon is your accomplice, and move to administer the advanced serum on him that your lab has been developing—”

“You _can’t_. That substance hasn’t even properly been tested on animals yet, let alone _humans_ —”

“No? Then how fortunate that we now have a test subject. Unless you can provide me with information in the next 12 hours that proves Mr. Brannon’s innocence – and you can provide the names and locations of your real accomplices – we will have no choice but to act.

“This concludes the interrogation session.”

“This is lab report 10, week four. Analyst Vázquez reporting on behalf of Gamma Team at ADVANCE, filling in for Analyst Brannon, who is currently… indisposed.

“Following the successful combination of our solution with the serum produced by Delta Team, we have begun conducting the first round of tests on laboratory rats. Specialists Yeboah and Chang administered the combined solution to three of the six animals, with the remaining three acting as a control.

“With these animals, which have previously been trained to carry out specific tasks, we will be able to observe whether the combined solution produces any noteworthy changes in behaviour.

“Our laboratory was also attended today by a computer technician, who was carrying out emergency network improvements. He spent time at several consoles, but primarily operated the console previously used by Analyst Brannon. He also spent a not insignificant amount of time conversing on a comm device.

“We have been advised to report it directly if we experience any additional network disruption over the next 48 hours. However, for now it appears that there should be no impairment to the continuation of our work with the solution testing.

“This is Analyst Vázquez, signing off; long live the Republic.”

_“—Okay. So, based on my search of the network access logs and files, Violet is being held somewhere in the west quadrant of the complex until noon, at which point they’re going to transfer her to Zone Z.”_

“And Alvy?”

_“Still looking. There’s nothing new in Dr. Starling’s reports, which should be a good sign – if they were going to use the treatment on him again, Starling would be the one to do it.”_

“Yeah… Did you find anything in his account, like a message maybe? It’s weird that he hasn’t tried to contact us…”

_“Gimme a second, Jeeter, I’m not a miracle worker. …Okay, yeah, there’s a partition on this hard drive that’s definitely not meant to be there. What’re the odds he’s storing something in there?”_

“Can you get in?”

_“It’s password protected. I’ll need to run my cracker, which is gonna take a few minutes.”_

“Wait, can you try inputting something first? Try – StickyFresco79. Initial caps on the S and F.”

_“…Is this some weird in-joke between you two?”_

“Pretty much?”

_“…Whaddya know, it worked. All right, there’s some encrypted files here, looks like they’re audio recordings. Decrypting them is gonna take a minute.”_

“Not like I’ve got anywhere to be. I’m just here doing my technician thing.”

_“Okay, the first one was uploaded earlier today, so I’m guessing we should check that one first. Playing it back now…”_

**“Hey, bud. It’s uh, Alvy. Well, you probably guessed that, since if you’re listening to this, you’ve found the files on my terminal.**

**“I don’t think I have much time. Something I did tipped them off, not sure what it was, but I guess I’m not as good at this as I used to be. I wanted you to know what happened, and – to have some kind of record of… Well, of me, Alvy Connors. Just in case I’m… not that guy for much longer.**

**“These audio files are all lab reports I’ve been making these past few weeks, as it… dawned on me that things weren’t what they seemed. I redacted the versions I submitted to the IGR, but I’ve been keeping an encrypted backup of the unredacted reports, just as… I dunno. A reminder, insurance, some kind of proof that I wasn’t just imagining it all. I guess part of me hoped there’d be someone who might find them and believe me.**

**“Maybe if they do uh, erase me again… You can use these to bring me back. But even if you… can’t, at least…**

**“At least I got to be myself again for a little while.**

**“Also, I managed to complete the virus you asked for – that’ll appear once you’ve decrypted all the files. Whatever it’s for – I hope it works.**

**“Thanks, Brian. With any luck, I’ll be able to tell you in person, too. But if I can’t… thank you.**

**“Alvy Connors out.”**

_“Jeeter.”_

“…Yeah?”

_“I found him. Connors.”_

“Y-you did? Where is he?”

“Commence recording. This is interrogation 02 of prisoner 435, Violet Liu; alias Jessica Huang; alias Cindy Chu. Major General Frederick interrogating.

“Well, Violet Liu. It’s been 12 hours since our little chat; are you ready to co-operate? Oh, and – just as a reminder of what’s at stake here… Bring him in, Officer.”

_A door slides open, followed by the sound of two sets of footsteps: one heavy, one uneven and stumbling._

“Oh, god, Alvy–”

“Hey, Jess- uh, Violet.”

“Alvy, I am so sorry–”

 **“ _Be quiet._** _…_ That’s more like it. You know, I’ve always thought the willingness to abandon torture as a strategy stems from rather a lack of imagination. But then, some of the traditional methods can be so _crude._ There are infinite ways to apply pressure to a human being without even laying a finger on them. After all, many insurgents display a high tolerance for pain and discomfort, while placing a low value on their own lives and safety – but the lives and safety of those they care for are another story.

“Do you have the serum, Officer? Good, good.”

“You know that every reliable study in the _universe_ found that torture doesn’t work, right?”

“Oh, did your insurgent friends tell you that? Yes, I’m sure they would. In my extensive experience, however, I have found it to be incredibly… satisfactory. And unless you would like to watch Officer Neuman here administer this serum to your friend – with effects that, as you say, are completely untested on humans – you will begin telling me everything that I want to know. Beginning with: what are the names and locations of your accomplices?”

“Why would I tell you anything? I’ve no guarantee that you won’t just administer the serum anyway as soon as I’ve talked.”

“Don’t tell them anything, Violet, I’ll be fi-” _A choked-off noise._

“To put it another way, then: you can either give us the information now, and buy Mr. Brannon just a little more time; or you can watch us administer the serum in front of you, after which you’ll be transferred to Zone Z, and we’ll _extract_ the information from you anyway. The choice is yours, Violet Liu.”

 _Quietly:_ “It’s _Connors_. My name is Alvy Connors.”

_An ‘oof’ noise, followed by the sounds of a brief scuffle and a cry of pain._

“Alvy!”

“Well. It looks as though Mr. Brannon has made the choice for you. The serum appears to have rendered him unconscious, which is an unanticipated side-effect but not unwelcome. Officer Neuman, take him away and keep him under observation. Bring in Dr. Starling; their medical expertise will be required for this phase. Violet Liu will remain here until her transfer to Zone Z.

“This concludes the interrogation session.”

_“He’s being held in the west quadrant too, for ‘observation’. He… Jeeter, I think they used it on him. The serum. Dr. Starling has been called in.”_

“…”

_“Jeeter? Look, we can still-”_

“I’m going there. I’m going in after him.”

_“Jeeter, remember the plan.”_

“I’ll go to Lab 1032 first. I can use my comm to broadcast to the swarm once you guys are in place, I just – I can’t leave Alvy. I’m not gonna be too late again.”

_“…Hold on. I can probably use this access to get you in as a guard or something.”_

_Quietly:_ “Thanks, Arkady.”

_“Doesn’t mean I don’t think it’s a stupid plan. …But I get why you need to go. Just don’t screw it up.”_

“Prisoner 435. Violet Liu. It’s time to go.”

“Are you… recording this?”

 _Boredly:_ “Yep. Protocol. This is Junior Agent McCabe.”

“It’s _Agent_ McCabe, now, Neuman.”

“Oh, you got a promotion. Lucky you. Agent McCabe is here to make sure you don’t put a toe out of line during the transfer, Prisoner 435. See that gun in their hands? They’re very good with it.”

“What have you done with Alvy Connors?”

“I don’t know any inmate by that name. This way.”

“You _know_ who I mean.”

“Whether I do or don’t, it’s still none of your concern. Are you going to move, or does Agent McCabe need to give you an up-close demonstration of their skills?”

_The sound of three sets of footsteps echoing in a corridor, followed by the hiss of a door opening. Gravel can be heard crunching underfoot._

_In an undertone:_ “You’re Agent McCabe? Was your supervisor Agent Park?”

 _Guardedly:_ “Why do you ask that?”

“Hey. No talking back there.”

_The footsteps come to a halt, and an engine can be heard purring to life._

“Get in.”

_A door hisses open, and there are shuffling noises as two people awkwardly navigate the padded seats inside the transport. The door hisses shut again, and the engine hums slightly louder as wheels crunch over the gravel._

“I’ve heard from him. From Agent Park. Not directly, but – via a mutual contact. He’s still being held in Zone Z, but he’s… okay.”

 _Stiffly:_ “Agent Park’s a traitor to the Republic. So all you’re telling me is that he’s been in contact with other traitors. I fail to see how that’s relevant.”

“Is that really what you believe?”

“Quiet in the back!”

 _In an urgent murmur:_ “Look, I’m telling you this because you deserve to know what the Regime is doing to people in Zone Z. They’re using it to test all kinds of things on people – experimental treatments, bioweapons, and worse.”

“That’s nonsense. It’s insurgent propaganda, and I don’t have to listen to-”

“The IGR executed something called Project Oblivion. A group of people, including a friend of ours named Alvy Connors, had their memories wiped and were given new names and identities, and put to work in ADVANCE Labs.”

“Alvy Connors is deceased. He was killed in a tragic explosion that took place on the final expedition from the Starship Iris to planet 5925. I’ve seen the file.”

“I spoke to him yesterday. But he was starting to regain his memories, and – that’s when he was taken prisoner by the IGR. He didn’t do anything – he just remembered.

“This is what the Regime has been doing, McCabe. They’re _erasing_ people, overwriting them, making them into a puppet that they can control.”

“It’s _Agent-”_

“Junior Agent McCabe, if you do not silence Prisoner 435 I am holding you personally responsible.”

 _With gritted teeth:_ “I know what your group has been up to. You’re smugglers, operating outside the law. And you’ll say and do anything to destabilise the Republic.”

“We just came here to help our friend. Agent Park said that the two of you were leading our case. You must have heard what they’ve been doing – how the IGR got that intel in the first place. They’ve been making use of illegal spying techniques in a way that violates the Treaty.”

“I— the use of high-tech methods of aural infiltration is justified if it allows us to identify and root out rogue elements.”

“Like a tiny band of smugglers in the middle of space? Come on. The Regime were keeping tabs on us in case we realised what was going on. You must see that there’s more to this than your superiors want you to believe.”

“I…”

“Hey. I’m here to take over watching the uh, subject, in there.”

“I wasn’t supposed to be relieved until Dr. Starling got here.”

_“Say he’s needed for Violet’s transfer. Her prisoner number is 435.”_

“Yeah, they’re about twenty minutes out, but you’re needed to help with the prisoner transfer to Zone Z. Prisoner 435?”

“When’s the transport leaving?”

“Uh, right now?”

“God damn it, why do they always do this–” _Rapid footsteps that pick up pace as they fade away into the distance._

_“Nice work. Okay, our ETA on intercepting the transport is five minutes, and then you’re on. Door code should be the same as the lab.”_

_A series of beeping noises can be heard, followed by a chime._ “I’m in. Thanks.” _A door whooshes open._

“Hi, uh… are you Dr. Starling?”

“Uh, no, I’m not.”

“Right, you’ve got a guard uniform, I don’t know why I – your face seemed familiar, and they said that Dr. Starling was my regular doctor, but I’ve kind of got… amnesia? So they’re coming to check me over.”

“Yeah, uh… about that. Listen, we do know each other, and I’m gonna explain how, but you might not want to believe me.”

“Okay…”

“They told you your name was Michael Brannon, right? Analyst Brannon? And you were in a lab accident?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“What happened to you was no accident. Your real name is Alvy Connors, you’re a 34-year-old computer engineer and consultant from New Neptune, and you’re a highly skilled coder. You and I met while we were tending bar together on Ryedell Station, in the Neutral Zone, and we’ve been friends ever since.”

“Wh… the Neutral Zone? That’s not possible, I’ve never been to- _agh-”_

“Those head pains you’re experiencing – sorry, they’re probably not fun – happen every time you try to recall a detail from your past. That’s because the Regime – the Intergalactic Republic – has been trying to make you forget. They faked an away shuttle explosion – that’s what happened to your leg – and brought you and the rest of the crew to work here at ADVANCE Labs, with fake names and identities.”

“I… why would they do all of that?”

“It’s kind of a long story, but it involves alien nanotech being used for surveillance, which you found evidence of. So they wanted to cover it up, and we thought you’d been – killed – but it turns out the Regime covered _that_ up, too.”

“…Do you have proof of all of this? How do I know you’re not just some crazy guy, or a hallucination – and where’s the doctor?”

“Oh, they’re on their way, which is why we need to be fast. Look, I have proof of everything I’m saying, which you gave to me – before they wiped your memory. That’s why you have amnesia. But we think our friend might have a cure? We just need to get you out of here first, which we have about – seventeen minutes to do?”

“And what happens if I don’t? Go with you, I mean.”

“If you don’t, then I’ll have to go, and you can go back to your life here, but… The next time you start to remember stuff, or have that nagging sense that things aren’t what they seem, they’ll know. And as soon as you start getting too close to the truth… They’ll stop you. Again. They’ve done it once already. But if you come with me now, I promise everything will start to make sense. And… you know, deep down inside, that you can trust me.”

“I… I think I’m still gonna need that proof you talked about.”

“Okay, I think we have enough time that I can play part of it to you. I just need to do one thing first.”

_The hum of an engine in the background and the sound of wheels bumping over tarmac._

“Look, Agent McCabe – I’ve got no reason to lie to you right now. It’s not going to improve my own fate. And it’s not going to get me out of these restraints. But I wanted you to have the chance to know the truth.”

“So that I can do what, exactly?”

“Whatever you choose to.”

 _The sound of tyres screeching._ “What—”

“Officer Neuman to control, we have a situation that has arisen during transfer of a prisoner to Zone Z, over.”

_A faint crackling. “Proceed, Officer Neuman, what is your situation? Over.”_

“There’s a block in the road ahead of us. Some kind of shimmering mist, and it’s just – it’s just hovering there. Over.”

_“I’m sorry, did you say mist? Can’t you just drive through it? Over.”_

_An indrawn breath._ “The swarm…”

 _The sound of a gun being cocked_. “Don’t move. Officer Neuman, what is—”

_An ominous humming noise fills the air. At the same time, the roar of an engine can be heard, getting louder as it approaches._

“Officer Neuman to control, another vehicle is advancing on us aggressively, and the mist has – it’s started to descend on the transport. Requesting backup-” _The sound of a gun clicking uselessly._ “My firearm’s jammed! Agent McCabe! Fire your weapon!”

 _The sound of another gun clicking._ “Mine’s jammed too. Oh my god, the – the transport’s _melting-”_

_A loud series of crashes as the vehicle starts to fall apart, accompanied by copious swearing. A body hits the ground with a thump, rolls, and footsteps can be heard running away. Tyres screech to a halt, and two doors can be heard opening._

“Violet, quickly!”

“Oh no you don’t- Stop right there, or I’ll shoot! And unlike my gun, this blaster has no metal in it.”

 _Two sets of footsteps approach cautiously._ “Don’t do this, kid. There’s a lot more of us.”

“That won’t matter if your comrade gets a bullet in the back. Or your – Dwarnian friend – gets a bullet to the heart. I’m a champion sniper – I’ve set records. And I can shoot before you have the chance to draw your gun.”

“McCabe-”

“It’s _Agent_ McCabe.”

“Agent McCabe, I swear, everything I just told you is true. You know there’s a lot of things that don’t add up about what you’ve been told. Thoughts you don’t let yourself think… Inconsistencies and contradictions in everything that you can’t let yourself look directly at for fear of what you might realise.

“I’m not asking you to take everything we’ve said at face value. But if you come with us now, we can show you proof of it. And we can take you to Agent Park. He asked us to try and find you, if we could. To make sure you were okay.”

“He… did?”

 _The sound of a walkie-talkie crackling._ “Officer Neuman to control, Agent McCabe is a suspected defector and traitor to the Republic. They have been conversing with the prisoner during our journey despite repeated warnings, and are currently in conversation with several known insurgents. Requesting authorisation to apprehend, over.”

_“Authorisation granted, Officer. If needed, shoot to kill. Over.”_

**“You-!”**

“Nothing personal, McCabe. I’m just doing my job. And you’re not the only one with a backup firearm.”

_The sound of a blaster powering up. A shot is fired, followed by a grunt of pain._

“It’s _Agent_ McCabe. _Officer._ ”

“High heckin’ five, pal!”

“Nice shot. So, you coming?”

“…I’m not saying I believe everything you’ve said. But… I’ll come with you.”

“Good enough. Let’s go.”

“Arkady – where’s Brian?”

“He’s with Alvy. We’re meeting them on the way.”

“He got through to him?”

“Enough, anyway. About that antidote you were working on-”

“I’ve got it here. It hasn’t been tested, but…”

“You have it _on_ you? They didn’t search you?”

“Why would they? I’m just a harmless biologist.”

_A disbelieving snort and laughter as several sets of footsteps recede into the distance. An engine can be heard starting up, and then roaring away._

“Ship’s – haha, no I got it, I got it – Ship’s Log. August… what day is it? August ninth. No, tenth. No! Ninth! Captain… Sana… Tripathi. Making the log.”

“Cap’n Tripathi, as the pilot and official announcement-maker, I should have the honour of-”

“You’re both useless. Let me-”

“Nope! I’m the Captain, and I make the rules. Now shush and let me do our first ever Ship’s Log. Ahem-”

“Uh… what are you guys doing?”

“Making a log! We found a recording device.”

 _Uncertain:_ “Isn’t that another coffee maker battery?”

“Is it? No, no, this is a recording device, I checked.”

“It’s actually the device I used to store the lab reports Alvy sent me and play them back to him. Don’t worry, we’ve already uploaded them all to the public net, so we don’t need ‘em any more.”

“ _Shhh,_ everyone! Ship’s Log, Captain Sana Tripathi. August… whatever. We… have triumphed! After a daring rescue in which our ship’s _talented translator_ commandeered a friendly alien nanocloud and persuaded them to eat an entire transport, our _heroic crew_ – plus two additional recruits, one RJ McCabe and one Alvy Connors – proceeded to rend- rende- meet up with Agent Park and a number of double agents working with the other Violet Liu, who had successfully infiltrated Zone Z.

“From there, we managed to distribute the antidote, created by our _talented biologist_ -”

“We also set off a pretty big explosion.”

“We managed to sabotage some key equipment on the premises, before exiting in the same amount of style as we entered, accompanied by two defecting Agents – Park and McCabe – and our expanded crew. Y’know, I’m starting to think we might need a bigger ship.”

“Uh, Krejjh and I can share our room with Alvy-”

“We’ll make it work.”

“First Mate Patel, you and Science Officer Liu should bunk in together!”

“W-why would we do that?”

“Dude, we saw you two holding hands in the kitchen earlier.”

_“That was-”_

“Ahem! I’m still _not finished_ , but yes, Arkady, we did all see that and we are _very_ happy for you.”

“Oh my _god.”_

“But then! Not content with striking a blow to the Regime at the heart of their operation, we uploaded the entirety of the Iris casefiles to the public net, accompanied by the unredacted logs made by Alvy Connors, as proof of what the Regime was trying to do. Let’s see them try to cover _that_ one up.”

“Woo!”

“Okay, now I’m gonna need another cup of celebratory moonshine. Who’s with me? Sana Tr’pathi _out.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Some additional notes on a couple of things I incorporated into this fic: writing in Alvy's voice for this was _hard_ , because it's difficult to get a real sense of how he talks from the two very limited pieces of audio we have in canon, one of which was purposefully out of character and the other which was recorded under extreme stress. I did also read the vignette about him and Brian on Ryedell Station, which you'll know if you've read it because I included a few different references to it xD 
> 
> The password that Alvy uses to encode the hard drive partition is a reference to Brian's password-for-everything, which is his cowboy name (OrangeGunk) and his year of graduation (77). So Alvy's is his cowboy name (StickyFresco) and his year of graduation, which I put as 79 - I made him a year older than Brian, so he would have started college a year after Brian (Brian having attended college at 16). Brian graduated after three years, which I think is short in terms of US college degrees (in the UK, three years is a typical degree length) so I made Alvy's degree take four years, thus giving him a graduation year of 79.
> 
> Also, the phrase that the nanoswarm says to Violet - _“Nak jre-yaver?”_ is soooort of made up. I based it on the Vre Chel Nokean we get in Season 1 - "Nak" is "we", and then _"Craddock jre-gesh?"_ is "Is that Craddock?", so I thought that "jre-" could be is, or are. Finally, "Yava tella nakvach frun croy?" means "Why do we not respond to us?" so I thought if "Yava" might be "Why", then a slight variation on it - "Yaver" - could be "Where". This is all based on a language whose grammar I have no knowledge of, so I just squinted really hard at the [Vre Chel Noke tab of the Dwarnian phrasebook that Jamie Price made](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oaamRIB527LiFySv-BrVLl3jxDV2NOp0ZFs_5-MgGas/edit#gid=2021939412) and cobbled together a plausible phrase.


End file.
